


The One Time Halt Wished He Wasn’t Right

by Timewormbloom



Category: Ranger's Apprentice - John Flanagan
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-02-28 08:27:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18752686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Timewormbloom/pseuds/Timewormbloom
Summary: Inspired by that one post by incorrect-rangers-quotes on Tumblr (https://incorrect-rangers-quotes.tumblr.com/post/183513556804/will-after-returning-from-a-date-with-alyss)This is the story where I originally created Paula and Daniel





	1. Chapter 1

    

**Notice**

**If you are reading this on the app Fanfic Pocket, I want you to know that this fic was stolen without my consent. The app creator stole every piece of writing on the app from Ao3. If you want to read this, or anything else I wrote, please do so on my[tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/timewormbloom) or my [ao3.](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Timewormbloom/works)**

 

Halt knew his apprentice. He also knew the woman his apprentice had married. So when he heard the news, he knew exactly how this was going to go. Their kid would be a smart, capable, and strong leader. Or a complete idiot. It could go either way, really. He wasn’t sure which one scared him the most.

      Despite what Crowley said, Halt was technically right. His guesses on the kids’ personalities were spot on, even if there were two of them. The first time Daniel had opened his eyes Halt had seen the empty look that usually suggested something behind the eyes was running a bit empty as well. Paula, on the other hand, looked ready to conquer something. Bursting out in laughter right after your daughter-in-law gave birth was probably very rude, but when he thought about the special brand of hell Will was going to go through he couldn't help it.

       Daniel had a carrot up his nose. Jenny didn’t know when or how that happened, but Will was acting so nonchalant she supposed it was a normal occurrence. Paula, already used to her brother’s buffoonery, was staring at the dough she was kneading with laser focus. Jenny should have known what she was getting into when she offered to teach the kids to cook, considering what antics their father got up to when he was little. A few hours later, there was a fresh loaf of bread cooling in the windowsill a piece of celery up Daniel’s nose.

       Introducing Daniel to Horace was probably a bad idea. Leaving them alone was a worse idea. Leaving them alone with weapons nearby was easily the worst idea Halt had ever heard. And he served under Corley for over two decades. The older of the pair of knuckleheads had his very sharp sword out of its scabbard and on the table. The second half was staring at it with a burning curiosity that would likely be the cause of several gray hairs on Halt’s part. And he wasn’t even his parent!

       Putting George and Paula together was a bad idea for an entirely different reason. The last thing a little girl, who had already set up a government among the village children, needed was an understanding of the actual law. At least George had someone to give annoyingly detailed lectures to, much to everyone’s relief.

     

         Will was too big to climb the tree in the Ward. He could have happily gone about his life without knowing that information, but considering how his son was stuck two yards above his head and he was a slight breeze away from falling on his butt it couldn’t be helped. The Ward staff that had loosely gather around the base were entirely unhelpful. As a matter of fact, they seemed to find Will getting a taste of his own medicine very amusing. Thankfully, they had saved the net they used years ago when Will was a kid and had done the exact same thing.

   

   Forts were a fun thing to do with kids, right? Yeah, surely nothing could go wrong with building a fort. Of course, thinking back on it, Crowley had failed to factor in Daniel’s remarkable similarity to Horace and Paula’s entire personality. Factors that lead to a full-blown civil war between the Treaty children as they threw balls of moss at each other from behind their walls. Watching them construct the forts had been an experience. Paula had planned it all and just told her rather large twin brother where to put the rocks.

     

      Paula knew exactly what she wanted in life. By the time she was ten she could be considered an expert on the Ranger Corps and had already spent a week learning about the inner workings with her Uncle Crowley, who was more than happy to have an excuse to not do paperwork. She had begun to copy both her parent’s mannerisms. She moved silently yet with powerful grace. If she hadn’t already set her sights on being a Ranger, Baron Arald would have hired her as a courtesan in an instant.

 

       Daniel had shown no interest in the Ranger Corps, much to people’s surprise (none of whom knew him too well). While he had grown out of the blank look he sported in his younger years, it was clear he wouldn’t be following in either of his parent's footsteps. Being orphans, both Will and Alyss found the idea of your career being limited to your parent's trades and opinions ridiculous. So they supported his every interest, even the seemingly insignificant ones.  

 

      His most prominent interest, however, was Battleschool. Whenever he wandered off he could usually be seen watching the students there from afar. What he didn’t know was that his family had already had a chat with the Battlemaster and gotten him a spot for when he was older. Horace was ecstatic at the news. He had been writing to Daniel ever since the kid was able to read and write, telling him about every aspect of being a knight. It hadn’t taken long for Daniel to completely in love with knighthood.

      

      “Well. I guess we’re on our own now,” Will mussed. The twins had turned fifteen this year and headed out to start their apprenticeships. Paula with a Ranger Will, Gilan, and Halt all trusted and Daniel to the battleschool. Leaving Alyss and Will alone in the cabin that had been expanded fifteen years ago to fit their family. Alyss patted his back, not used to the silence. There was no little girl running around in a smaller version of a Ranger cloak while a little boy swung a toy sword around.

 

        “I still don’t know how Daniel got so big! Do you remember how small I was when I was his age!” Will ranted, still slightly salty at the growth spurt that never showed up.

 

        “Well considering how both of our fathers were soldiers it’s not impossible,” Alyss said, glad for the change in subject. And if Will noticed her tactfully not mentioning his height he didn’t acknowledge it. She also didn’t mention the tears building up in his eyes, mainly because the tears welling up in her own made everything seem blurry and distorted.

 

         Their moping was suddenly cut off by Tug alerting them to a friendly presence. Will was on his feet in an instant, moving to open the door. The door had only been open for a second when Jenny bustled in with her arms ladened of pie and a cheery smile on her face. She was quickly followed by nearly everyone they cared about. Several minutes later they were surrounded by fiends and significantly less pie then there had been earlier.

 

        


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn’t necessarily connected to the first chapter, it’s just the same characters. Though if you want to read it like it’s part of earlier chapters/works, go right ahead.

    Pauline was a terrifying force when she wanted to be, or at least that was Halt’s excuse for why he had agreed to babysit the little terrors in front of him. Child number one was no problem. Thankfully she had inherited more of her mother’s personality, so she would just go do her own thing at some point and turn a few hours later completely okay. Child number two, however, had a remarkable resemblance to Horace. 

 

     “Alright, child number one, go play with knives or something. Child number two….just sit there.” Halt already regretted this decision. Why did he let Pauline talk him into this? (She didn’t, he’s doing this on his own free will).

 

      “Wait, am I child number one or two,” Daniel asked, looking remarkable confused, as if Halt hadn’t referred to them that way for their entire lives. 

 

       “Do you really think Grandpa would tell you to play with knives,” Paula replied in a deadpan tone. Daniel seemed to not notice that and brightened up. 

 

       “You’re right! Why didn’t I think of that?” He muttered. Halt and Paula shared a look over his bent over head. Paula just shrugged. 

 

       “Bye Grandpa!” Paula seemed to content to leave Halt to his fate and ran off. 

 

       “Call me Grandpa one more time,” Halt muttered in his scariest voice, not like either of them cared. 

      Halt never thought he would wish someone didn’t know how to make a sandwich. Mostly because that’s an oddly specific thing to wish upon someone and it had never crossed his mind. But as he watched Daniel frantically scale a tree to escape the badger he had given his freshly made sandwich to, that sequence of words happened to cross his mind. 

 

       In Halt’s defense, he had never had to fight off a badger. A swan sure, but a badger was new. So he just grabbed his bow and figured baggers must be easier than swans. Those things were downright cruel. Besides, most things got scared and ran away when shot with a bow. Surely badgers must be the same. 

 

      Halt never did have the time to test that theory, since as soon as he returned with his bow Daniel feel out of the tree right next to the badger. Leaving his with a few bruises, no sandwich, and no badger. Daniel watched sadly as the badger ran off with his sandwich. 

      “What happened?” Halt grunted in reply to Will’s question, still wrapping up the small bite wound on Daniel’s thigh. 

 

      “Badger,” Daniel replied, very calm despite the situation. 

 

      “Daniel, so we need to have the badger talk again?” Will told him, exasperated. That caught Halt’s attention. How common was this that they had a whole talk about it?

 

     “If a badger or any other wild animal takes my sandwich, just let them have it,” Daniel replied robotically. 

 

      Halt stood up from where he was crouched, stretched, then headed towards the door.

      “Still better than you were at fifteen,” he muttered just loud enough for Will to hear before leaving. 

      “Daniel! Did you try to fight a badger again!” Someone, probably Paula, shouted from within the cabin as Halt rode away. It was times like these where Halt was glad that every child he was responsible for a parent, or at least a parental figure,  was at least 15 when he meet them. 


End file.
